Game of Masks
by BumblingScribe
Summary: (AU) The Quiet One, the notorious leader of the Ascenticons, is the reason behind many murders that have happened around Cybertron. Officer Prowl tries to bring justice to the Quiet One's crimes. Many secrets get revealed throughout the investigation, lies that have been told, and relationships get tested. There has to be a reason for these murders, right?
1. Prologue: Murder in the Streets

_**Warning: Character Death**_

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_**Murder in the Streets**_

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_Running away from his hunter, a blue and orange mech did not want to turn back. He was huffing, optics glitching. He took a corner, going faster. He heard his hunter catching up._

_"You can't run away from me! I will always find my prey!" the bot said in a static tone. The bot was covered in energon. Dark red optics full of hate with a glimpse of insanity with a twisted smile._

_"Leave me alone! I'll d-o-o what...ever you want but pl-e-ea-ase don't kill me!" the mech said in a fearful tone. He was frightened of what this figure was capable of. The bot chuckled darkly at him._

_"Awwww, you think it's that easy?! Do you think I will spare your life? HA! I don't spare anyone's life!" the figure said as his voice got distorted and low. The mech was running faster than he ever did but stopped when he reached the end of the alleyway._

_"Scrap!" he shrieked. His frame was shaking as he was trying to find a way out. He looked at the dim alleyway. The murderer was right at the entrance, slowly walking to the orange and blue mech. The figure clasped his servos around the mech's neck._

_"Let's make this quick." he said in a low, maniacal tone. The bot ripped bits of the mech's chasis until it showed the mech's spark, the bluish tinted spark. The bot grabbed a dagger and started to dig into the spark chamber. The mech wailed._

_"P-p-le-ase-s-t-t-op!" the orange, blue mech tried to say. The figure started to maniacally laugh. Something about the laugh made the mech even more frightened than he already is. The pain he felt was excruciating._

_"If only that were easy. You don't know what I am capable of. I will never spare anyone's life! You. Are. Dead!" the figure said in a low, dark tone._

_The dagger was going deeper in his spark chamber. The mech's orange, blue frame was turning grey. A wicked smile formed on his face. The mech's spark stopped beating, his frame turned into a gunmetal grey._

_He was dead._

_The figure took out the knife that was now covered in energon, a wicked smile on his face. He succeeded in killing his victim. He grabbed the dead mech and took out his spark, and crushed it._

_His arms, hands, and bits of his frame covered in energon. He stared at the unrecognizable mech. Realization hit him._

_He killed the mech._

_"W-what did I-I do?" the bot said, servos shaking. He clenched his head, he didn't mean to! Did he? _No. You killed him. He deserves it! You've killed bots before, you can do it again._ His servos stopped shaking, he needed to stop feeling. Feeling is weakness. He started to smile, red optics glowing brighter in the darkness._

_He heard a police siren echoing in the alleyway. He climbed the railings and went up the roof. He saw the officer transform with his headlights turned on. His sharp claws scratch the railings of the roof. "Prowl…" he growled._

_Prowl, a white and black mech, saw the dead frame of the bot. A pool of spilled energon was under the mech. Sparks were flying from the spark chamber._

_"Oh, no," Prowl covered his mouth upon seeing the unrecognizable frame. He didn't notice the mech's murderer running away from the rooftops. Prowl wiped his tears, optics ridges lowered. Only one name came through._

_"The Quiet One…"_

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**Author's Notes:**

_I have been rewriting chapters of "Game of Masks". It will be similar to the original just more updated... I really don't know how to explain it..._


	2. Chapter 1: Mission Received

_**Mission Received**_

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"Latest crime: Senator Dai Atlas was murdered by a group of Ascenticons." a red and white mech said. He turned to the white and black mech across from him. The mech was typing in a datapad, slouching against the wall, and droopy optics staring at the datapad.

"Prowl?" the red and white mech asked. He waved his servos over Prowl, who still didn't look up. The mech sighed, _This is the second time in a row!_ and snatched the datapad from Prowl.

"Prowl!" Prowl blinked, doorwings jolting from interruption. He stared at his friend, tired navy optics trying to stay open.

"What now, Red Alert?" Prowl snapped. Red Alert crossed his arms, cyan optics gazing at the Praxian.

"Didn't you hear me at all? I said that Senator Dai Atlas was _murdered_! That's another senator gone! Eventually, they'll all be gone!" Red Alert yelled. He looked at Prowl's datapad. It contained many reports of the situation going on in Praxus. He read through one report of a massacre that happened in Sector 3 Praxus. A total of twenty-seven bots died with up to a hundred injured.

Red Alert looked up at Prowl. "You're worried about Praxus, aren't you?" Prowl nodded, looking at a holograph of Praxus on his desk. Praxus was his home, neutral from any fights. This is the first for Praxus since 1000 vorns.

"The massacre that happened there worried me. Luckily the Youth Centers were in Sector 5 so Smokescreen is fine. These protests are getting out of hand in Praxus and I don't want to lose Smokescreen.

"After the shift is over, I'm going to go back to Praxus and take Smokescreen with me. Probably transfer him to the Youth Centers here in Iacon." Prowl said, legs giving in. He gripped the edge of this desk. Red Alert gave back Prowl's datapad, chuckling. Prowl's door wings dropped.

Prowl worried about Praxus, the epicenter of the Ascenticon problem. Majority of murders happen there. Bots have protested in Praxus for the safety of the city-state. Instead, they got killed by the Ascenticons. Senator Crosscut passed laws to ensure the safety of Praxus, but; the Ascenticons found their way around it.

The Council has stated that they "have the situation under control". That angered Prowl to the core. _Corrupted lying glitch-heads!_ Prowl huffed, _Nothing is ever going to change…_

Prowl glanced at Red Alert looking over at the security cameras. Prowl smiled, Red Alert couldn't even go one joor without looking at his precious security system. Prowl sat on his chair. He filed reports into their respective folders, and put clues on his board.

His board, cluttered with pictures of bots along with notes that Prowl written on. Prowl wanted to find the identity of the Quiet One, the "killer with no spark" and leader of the Ascenticons. The Quiet One was responsible for the death of many innocent bots in the past vorns. No one knows he is. Those who he encounters with, dies.

Prowl was a fledgling when the Ascenticons and Quiet One started to wreck Cybertron. Prowl and Red Alert have dealt with the Ascenticons and one of the generals, Sunstorm. He despised Sunstorm's charismatic personality, and had a score to settle with.

Prowl saw something off with the board. The clues weren't adding up. The Quiet One, known to deceive others, manipulating them for his own purposes. The Quiet One was able to disguise himself within the population. It was for this reason that many bots died. Trusting someone who turned out to be the Quiet One all along. A major reason why no one can figure out about his identity.

"Red, don't you think that there is something off about this investigation?" Prowl asked, optic ridges up. Red Alert nodded.

"I have thought about it. Though I have doubts..." Red Alert said, optics shuttering.

Prowl looked at his board. We are missing a piece of evidence, But what? Something is just not added up.

Red Alert checked his chronometer. Shift's over.

"Prowl, it's time to go." Red Alert said, putting some stuff away. Prowl kept staring at his board. He put away files back in their respective cabinets.

"Well, I'm tired."

… ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Smokescreen was playing tug-of-rope with a red and orange youngling named Hot Rod. Hot Rod was dragging Smokescreen around, causing the youngling to get caught in the rope. Luckily, the rope was unwrapped around him. Smokescreen pulled back.

The door opened.

Prowl came in, Smokescreen let go of the rope, sending Hot Rod flying a bit.

"Prowly! Prowly! Prowly!" Smokescreen chanted, running towards Prowl. He jumped on Prowl's chest, hugging him. Smokescreen snuggled closer to Prowl. He looks at Prowl, optics glistening with curiosity. Prowl frowned, he was too tired for this...

The question...

"Prowly! Have you found friend?" Smokescreen asked. He was bouncing on Prowl, doorwings in a 'v' shape. Prowl frowned, he knows what Smokescreen was talking about; Ratchet.

_Why Smokescreen?_

Smokescreen never met Ratchet but overheard a conversation about him before. Since then, he would never stop pestering Prowl about that sore subject.

"Smokey, Ratchet is still missing. You know that…" Prowl hugged Smokescreen, frown deepening behind him. Prowl could never forgive himself if he repeated the same mistake twice. Not again.

Prowl lifted a servo, alerting the caretakers. A red, white, pink accented femme came with a datapad and stylus.

"Hello there, Minerva, I'm here to sign Smokescreen out." Prowl said. Minerva smiled, handing the datapad and stylus. Prowl handed Smokescreen to Minerva.

Prowl signed next to Smokescreen's name, giving the datapad and stylus back to Minerva. Smokescreen jumped on Prowl's head, turning around, waving to Minerva goodbye.

"Bye!"

"Bye, Smokescreen!"

Prowl went outside the Youth Centers on the boardwalk. The white youngling jumped. Prowl chuckled, tickling Smokescreen lightly.

"Oh, Smokescreen, let me transform." Prowl said playfully. He put Smokescreen on the ground, then transformed. Letting Smokescreen sit in the drivers' seat, he was jumping for the majority of the ride. He looked through the window, face compressed to see the view.

… ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Prowl vented. Smokescreen was recharging when they came back to their home. Prowl came in to see his carrier reading a datapad. Smokescreen was snuggling close to Prowl, moving a bit.

"Smokescreen tired himself out?"

"Yes. He is quite the youngling." Prowl said. He gave Smokescreen to his carrier. Smokescreen smiled, snuggling close to her.

His carrier was rocking Smokescreen. It filled Prowl with joy to see such innocence. His carrier was a well known police officer back then, fighting what she deemed true. She was known as Searchlight the Peacemaker. Back then, Prowl would see his carrier fighting against the injustice of Cybertron.

That's why he was a police officer.

"Any closer to hunting down the Quiet One, Prowl?" Searchlight asked. Prowl huffed. Where can he begin?

"Something is missing in this investigation to find the true identity of the Quiet One. I don't know what it is. Usually, it always leads to a dead end." Prowl said. Searchlight pondered on that. This wasn't the first time investigations have grown stale. Most of the time, investigations close because of the lack of evidence.

"Why don't you see the investigation from another angle? In most criminal investigations we have to see things from a different perspective. Then, you'll see what's missing." Searchlight said, putting her servos on Prowl's shoulders.

"Or, you can retrace your steps. Sometimes we overlook things that are there. We just need to go back and then we will be able to find it."

Prowl processed that saying. _She's right. Maybe changing perspective might be good. Or we should retrace our steps._

Prowl hugged Searchlight. "Thanks, mother."

Searchlight hugged her creation back. "Anytime."

… ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Red Alert entered his office. It was empty. Usually Prowl was here before the on-cycle. Red Alert looked around. Empty. He activated his datapad to see a message. He clicked it.

[ Red Alert,

Meet me in my office.

Depth Charge ]

Red Alert put down the datapad and got up. He wondered what it meant. _It was either a lecture or something else. Maybe he knows where Prowl is. Or probably some evidence about the whereabouts of the Quiet One or Ascenticons. It could be another criminal rising up! Or a revelation in science..._ Red Alert slowly walked to Depth Charge's office, dreaded to know why he was sent.

He pushed a button to request access. The door opened. Red Alert took a breath and went inside.

Depth Charge was there, sitting on his chair, servos clasped together on his desk. Prowl was also there, standing upright. At least he's not tired.

"What's. Going. On?" Red Alert asked. Depth Charge lifted a datapad on his desk, scrolling through the information.

"42 cycles ago, we got a report that something was stolen from the Hall of Records. I sent Nightbeat to check it out and he brought back some disturbing news. Apparently, the Ascenticons stolen research about shadowplay." Depth Charge said. Red Alert widened his optics. Shadowplay?

"Why would the Quiet One ask for that?" Red Alert blurted out. Prowl looked at Red Alert, optic ridge arched.

"To experiment on us." a voice said. Red Alert turned around to see a teal, white accented femme came in.

"Shadowplay is a very difficult procedure unless you have the right tools." the femme said. Her arms were behind her back, she walked in elegantly. Her face showed no emotion.

"What's shadowplay?" Prowl asked. He never heard of a term known as "shadowplay".

"Shadowplay rids someone from showing emotion. They become a husk for whoever tampers with their spark. Created during the Quintesson occupation by Jhaixus. He thought he could find a way to block Quintesson experimentation. Instead created mindless soldiers rid of their original selves. Shadowplay is the only procedure that truly rids someone's spark…" the femme said.

"Red Alert, Prowl, this is Moonracer. She is the bodyguard and advisor to Sentinel Prime."

"Sentinel Prime?" they both said. Moonracer nodded, mint optics observing the two.

"Sentinel Prime has something that the Quiet One will need to complete the shadowplay process. Without it, the Quiet One will never complete his plan. He asks that you two protect his sons. He requires your skills in protecting them." Moonracer said.

"Why not ask the help of the Elite Guard?" Prowl deadpanned.

"The Elite Guard is busy protecting the civilians of Cybertron. Without them, more deaths will happen. Stop asking questions." Moonracer sternly said. Prowl rolled his optics.

"The Lineage of Primes need to be protected. Without the cortical psychic patch, the Ascenticons will fail." Depth Charge warned. Red Alert glanced at Prowl who faintly nodded.

"We got this. Wait... What is a cortical psychic patch?"

"So little time for questions." Moonracer said. She glanced at Depth Charge who nodded.

"I'll be sending you two. You are the best officers in the department. Your skills will be a powerful asset to help protect the Lineage of Primes." Depth Charge said.

"What about the investigation?" Prowl asked, staring at Moonracer.

"You will continue your work at the Celestial Spires. Everything is arranged." Moonracer said. Prowl sighed.

"If that's all, you can go." Depth Charge said. Prowl and Red Alert nodded, and followed Moonracer out of the station.

An orange transport was parked there. Moonracer tapped the transport. The door opened. She gestured Prowl and Red Alert to come in. They were hesitant but got in. Once inside, the door closed.

Moonracer tapped the side.

"Landmine, take us to the Celestial Spires."

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**Author's Notes:**

Here is the updated first chapter! There are a lot of things I have change. Moonracer is added along with Landmine. Prowl and Red Alert have not change... hopefully. I have included shadowplay since I like the idea of someone being devoured of emotion. Next chapter will introduce other characters.

Hope you enjoy!


End file.
